Containers for storing essentially flat cleaning pads, applicators and the like are known in the art such as disclosed in Younghusband (U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,127); Roskam (U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,275); Monte et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,897); Patience (U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,231); Kaspar (U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,048); and Cotton (U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,368). None of these devices, however, address a long standing problem in using containers that store cleaning pads, particularly those that are capable of absorbing liquids.
In particular, typically flat sheet-like, cleaning pads have a wide range of commercial and household uses. Such pads may be used to clean utensils, dinnerware, counter tops, machinery, windows and the like. Such pads may be absorbent in that they are capable of absorbing liquid (e.g cleaning solution, water and the like) while used to clean various surfaces. When the consumer is finished with a cleaning pad, there is typically no place associated with the container to place the used pad until it may be used again. The consumer must therefore find another place to place the used pad or to discard the same which may be premature in that the pad may be used several times before it is necessarily discarded.
In addition, containers for housing cleaning pads are often sold in packages having advertising copy and information about the product printed thereon. One form of packaging is a sleeve which fits over the container and may be easily removed from the container so that the consumer may gain access to the container and the cleaning pads contained therein. There is a problem associated with such packaging systems in that the package may be removed by an unscrupulous person to expose the container and to remove the contents of the container (i.e. the cleaning pads) and then the packaging placed about the empty container without detection.
It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of containers for packaging cleaning pads to provide an area associated with the container for placing a used cleaning pad, especially in a position so that it may readily dry before being used again. It would be a further advance in the art of such containers to provide protection against removal of the packaging from the container by an unscrupulous person to gain access to the cleaning pads contained within the container.